Inside Yoga 49 (21/2/2012)

Time holds court over our lives; it is an unrelenting pest which will not leave us alone nor do we feel that we can escape it – or can we?

We arrange our daily lives based on the constraints of time, from the moment we wake up to the time we go to sleep, and even then while asleep our dreams can reinforce this feeling of time – albeit in a surreal way.

How much of our lives are spent anticipating that something – whatever it might be – will be happening in the future? We live in anticipation of the future: the forthcoming weekend, the impending Monday and back to work, and so forth, time keeps us caught up in its game.

And beyond the more tangible anticipation of the immediate future – ie going to work or weekend plans, there is also the bigger picture in which time holds its control over us. How many of us have gone through periods of anticipating a change in our lives, hopefully for the better. Are we constantly thinking and anticipating the prospect of a new lover or a new job, or perhaps a new place to live?

And all these thoughts of something in the future have their uses but how often do we find that we have got a bit too involved in fretting and worrying about the future; to the point that we cannot enjoy our lives as they are right now?

We have all been there – and it cannot be healthy if we suffer this pulling into the future. Can we escape this pattern?

In theory we can and in many cases it is possible to keep time at bay. The practice of finding peace in the present moment is one we keep coming back to in spiritual practices such as yoga and Buddhist meditation. And with good reason: being stuck in the future (or in the past) is one that causes so many problems for us – from minor feelings of being unsettled and restless, to serious depression.

That is one very good reason to save a few minutes every day towards some personal practice – be it sitting quietly observing our breathing and keeping the mind quiet; or exercising while also watching the breathing and keeping the mind quiet. Either way, it’s all part of the same journey towards a quiet place where we are not afflicted by our thoughts or worries of the future.

This repetitive practice of yoga is constantly taking us back to this place where there is an internal spaciousness and calm. We work hard at cultivating this place to go to when we practice yoga, so that it becomes more accessible at will. And it becomes an antidote to the harm the “future” can have upon us.

Even the question, which I do get asked from time to time, “how long will it take for me?” to reach XYZ – is a loaded question that is trapped by the time factor. We cannot work that way with this kind of practice as it is taking us to a place which is timeless, so therefore we cannot use time as a measure.

We need to let go of “time”. It keeps us trapped and caught up in a dualistic relationship in which time has all the cards and rules. We  need to seek the non-dualistic state that is beyond and apart from time. It is a subtle state and one that has to be experienced to be understood – and however elusive it might appear most of us have had moments when time has stood still – if only fleetingly.

Cultivate this space and let it grow.